Tandem Tumble

Lots of rides out on the tandem now. We're touring the beautiful country around Pleasington - Whalley, Rivington, Pendleton and all over the Ribble Valley. The trips are ranging from 15 to our trip yesterday of 37 very hilly miles!

Really enjoying the tandem experience and starting to get our act together as a team (mostly!). There's a bit more to riding a tandem than simply hopping on a single bike and taking off. There's the synchronization aspect of two people of different capabilities trying to do the same thing at the same time and the compensation factor particularly for the person in the rear (the stoker) who cannot see the road. We're starting to come closer capability-wise, or to be fair I should say my capability is growing. I can tell my legs are getting stronger and am less bothered by the hills. Steve's getting the gear shifting down, he says he uses a lot more gears a lot more often than you would on a single bike. He's also getting very good at with the running monologue that he needs to communicate the conditions of the road and what he's about to do gear-wise to me - "Big change up," "Big change down," "Bump," "Another bump," and "Lots of bumps!"

We've also discovered that the tandem is not as maneuverable on corners as a single bike as we took a tumble as we turned a corner in front of the Black Dog Pub in Belmont. We now know not to take corners so fast and not to change gears while cornering! No major injuries other than a skinned knee and a sore wrist, and pride - of course there were people sitting outside the pub who witnessed our tumble!

Did our biggest day yet yesterday leaving Pleasington and heading towards Abbey Village, through Belmont, Chorley and Withnell. This trip involved lots of hills, but particularly several long climbs up into the Pennine Moors with spectacular views at the top (which we really enjoyed once we got our breath back!). We had thought that it might be close to 30 miles, but when Steve added it all up it was 37 miles total. With all those hills, we figure we're getting close to being able to handle some of those Brittany days of 45 to 50 miles!

In Tolkien's Footsteps

Yesterday, we went on a walk around Hurst Green, Stonyhurst College and by the Hodder and Ribble Rivers called the Tolkien Trail. This area of Lancashire is Tolkien country where he spent time while writing The Lord of the Rings. His son was attending school at Stonyhurst which was a Jesuit seminary back then.

The walk was a lovely ramble through the 'Shire' beginning in Hurst Green, skirting around the beautiful buildings of Stonyhurst, past Hodder place and then following the edge of the Hodder River until it connected with the Ribble. I could see where his inspiration for the Shire came from, leafy lanes, winding paths through the woods, the stroll alongside the river. We had a picnic lunch at the edge of the Hodder and I could just imagine Tolkien with his notebook on a sunny afternoon looking at the same view and adding in hobbits, elves and other creatures.

It was a good day for a walk, too windy to be out on the tandem (40 mph gusts are a bit much!), but the fleeces blocked most of it. When we were 8 miles in to what was described as a 5-mile walk, we realised that someone had some 'measurement challenges'. I couldn't figure out why I was tired and why my feet hurt - it was only 5 miles and I'd walked 6 on Sunday with no problems (and more hills!), what was going on? Steve measured the route when we got home and, sure enough, 8 miles!

Length aside, it was still a great walk with lots of places and things that we'd never seen before (usual for me, highly unusual for Steve who's wandered around this part of the world for years). Would do it again, but plan for 8 rather than 5 miles next time!

Over the Top of the Nick O'Pendle

The tandem rides have continued (no, it's not just sitting in the garage!) and we've been getting out on it 2-4 times a week. This is training for our bicycling trip to Brittany in September where we'll spend about 10 days covering 500 miles. The rides each day run about 45 miles with the big day at 63 miles. Training for those of us who have sat in front of a computer for the past 3-6 years is a must!

"It's surprising that the Northwest produces so many good riders," Steve said sarcastically as we gasped our way up yet another hill. The Northwest of England is littered with hills. Seems like every place you look, there's another one. Makes for beautiful scenery and very tired legs on a bike! And our house is at the top of a steep hill so the ride home is always uphill!

But we are (I am) getting used to it. I was always put off bike riding because of the hills, but now in some instances I even enjoy going up hill - great way to get warm fast! My 'sit bones' are starting to toughen up and the legs are getting stronger.

We've done 8-9 good sized rides now including a 30 mile jaunt around the Ribble Valley and the loop around Hoghton Tower a couple of times. We've made it up the 3.5 mile Pleasington Hill and the 6 mile mostly uphill climb back from Long Ridge.

The two really big hills in the area are Pendle Hill and Waddington Fell. Yesterday we tackled Pendle Hill for the first time (for me and for the first time in a really long time for Steve). We started out by doing a quick climb up Revidge (no sweat now!) and dropped down through the outskirts of Blackburn into Langho. We stopped at Kath and Jack's in Langho to say hello as we hadn't seen them since we've been back. Then it was up 'over the top' through York and down into Whalley with gorgeous views of the Ribble Valley to our left the whole way. Right at the roundabout in Whalley to head for Sabden. Jack had recommended an antique shop and cafe in Sabden as a good 'tea break' spot so we stopped in there. The cafe wasn't open, but the antique shop was so we had a good rummage around all three floors.

Sabden is at the foot of Pendle Hill so as we turned left out of town we were confronted with the upward climb. The bike has 27 gears, but we dropped quickly down into the lowest one and then it was just peddle, peddle, peddle from there on up. The grade climb on Pendle Hill is 1 in 5 or a climb of one foot for every five feet you traverse. The sheep may have been walking faster than us, but we kept going. At one point, Steve offered to stop (giving me an 'out clause'), but I wanted to see how far we could get. We finally and slowly peddled over the crest and up the remaining hill to the top. WOW, what a view and WOW, look how far up we are!

The top of Pendle was a great place for a picnic and after the climb we enjoyed every bite. After lunch we zoooommmmmmeeeddd down the hill and turned the corner into Pendleton. From there we took a tiny road to Whiswell and then dropped back down into Whalley intending to treat ourselves to a celebratory tea and cake - but the Toby Jug Tea Shop was closed! Oh, no! We had been planning on stopping in at Steve's Uncle John and Auntie Margaret's after Whalley so we just headed off there instead for our cup of tea and a chat. Then it was the long peddle back up Revidge hill and Billinge hill to the house where we got off on very shakey legs!

Steve says even in his cycling days the Nick O'Pendle wasn't something he undertook lightly. It's a good sized hill. The tandem is really proving to be a great bike and it's great to be able to talk (when we aren't gasping uphill, that is!). We're also pretty pleased that we made it over the Nick without stopping!

Close Encounters of the Chicken Kind

A gorgeous sunny Sunday morning, too nice to sit inside! We took the tandem out for an early morning loop. There are some wonderful leafy lanes around here, back roads called B roads. Sometimes not even wide enough for two cars to pass, they meander all over the countryside past farms, sheep and hidden old country houses. The terrain is quite hilly, but the scenery is so beautiful it distracts you from how hard you're pedalling. Shady lanes with the sun filtering through, hedgerows lining the sides with breaks here and there where you glimpse a field, a pasture, the view across a valley. The flowers are out everywhere and the gardens are lush. The rhododendron trees (yes, trees!) which grow wild in the woods here are in full bloom adding a shade of purple to all the green.

And as you pedal down the lane, it smells like summer! Do you remember when you were a kid and you played outside all day during the summer? In the woods, the field or the pasture? Remember how it smelt, hot, a hint of dust, a whiff of flowers and new mown grass? For me, that's the smell of summer.

Along with the flora being out, so was the fauna. We had a close encounter of the chicken kind as one ran out into the road and right in front of the bike as we were zipping along down a hill! Luckily there was no collision and we all rode / flapped away from the incident.

After the leafy lanes, we circled past Houghton Tower . We passed the Houghton Church as they rang the bells for the 10:00 service. The church bells in England sound just like the ones at the end of the movie Scrooge, that very old Englandy sound, very distinct from other places.

I tested out picture taking from the back of the tandem. Taking photographs from the back of the motorbike is something I've been doing for a while now and I was curious to see if it could be done on the tandem. It's so beautiful, I want to take lots of pictures along the way, but it's rather inconvenient to stop every five minutes to take a photo. Seems to work fine except for the delay on my small digital camera, it's an older one with a short pause before it takes the photo. With that, 'on the move' photos can change from the time you press the button from a scenic vista to a Ford Fiesta.

Came back, packed for the motorbike trip to Ireland and planted the rest of our garden (our garden consists of containers on the patio). Julie and Andrew stopped by and we toasted the English sunset. Lovely (and busy) day!

Up Hills and Everything!

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny, warm and not rainy day so we took the
tandem out for a tour around the Ribble Valley. We're starting our
'training' for our bike trip to France in September. Steve has just
informed me that one day we will be pedalling 53 miles! Now on a tandem
bike, there is no 'get out clause'. I cannot get tired and call a taxi,
it's just too big to fit so I have to be able to do the mileage!

We headed off from our house and stopped to pick up a few things at the shop
for lunch. This is what we'll be doing on the trip so we wanted to test it
out. We now know that we need a Swiss Army knife or somesuch for cheese and
opening things and that we cannot forget napkins. Also we need a lunch
container that doesn't get mooshed when strapped to the bike with bungie
cords.

Immediately after the shop, we headed uphill. Unlike biking in Florida
which is all flat for miles, the Northwest of England is loaded with hills.
As a matter of fact, if you're not going down a hill, then you're going up
one! And hills have never been my thing. On the tandem, hills are better -
and that's not because Steve does all the pedalling! It's not so easy to
'opt out' mid way up, but there's the sense of being in it together - plus
Steve understands what gears to use to make it easier. It's very funny,
there's one gear that's so low, people walking pass us!

We did 17 miles. Now for the bicyclists in the audience, that's baby stuff,
but for me it was amazing! I've never done more than 3 or 4 miles and I
didn't like that much (actually my idea of exercise has always been turning
the pages of a book!). It was beautiful riding along the country lanes,
past the hedge rows and coming up over the top of a hill and seeing the
patchwork quilt of the valley before us.

After yesterday, I think I can do this except for one thing - 'bicycle
backside'. I thought with the padding I have on my backside plus padded
shorts, spending time on the seat of a bike wouldn't be a problem - not so!
Those 'backside bones' immediately found a direct connection with the bike
seat and proceeded to grind, bounce and bruise over every inch of those 17
miles. My legs were fine and wanted to continue. My lungs were fine and
ready to go. Not so the backside! Steve says it's one of those things that
you just have to keep going and after 6 weeks (WEEKS!!!) or so it will be
fine. Oh goodie...

Other than that and the silly hats, it's great fun!